Brussels, 26/04/2016 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 26 April, the chair of the EU delegation to the EU-Ukraine Association Committee, Andrej Plenkovic (EPP, Croatia), announced that visa liberalisation for Ukrainians was a “key priority for the European Parliament”.
Hailing the European Commission's formal proposal of 20 April (see EUROPE 11536), Plenkovic said at the end of the Association Committee meeting in Brussels that the European Parliament would “do [its] utmost for the decision taken in a most reasonable and due time”. He added that visa liberalisation would “give a clear signal of solidarity to the Ukrainians from the EU”. In Plenkovic's view, the minimum time for a decision from the Parliament is three months. Indeed, the Parliament must name a rapporteur, and then this report must go to several committees and to a plenary session.
The deputy chairman of the Ukrainian Parliament, Iryna Gerashchenko, spoke about the Dutch referendum of 6 April that rejected the EU-Ukraine association agreement (see EUROPE 11527). “We agreed that there should not be any negotiations on a new agreement, but that the same agreement should remain”, she said. “The EU and Ukraine should work hard to accelerate implementation of this agreement”, she stated. Gerashchenko added that the new government wanted to implement this association agreement and to fight corruption. Reiterating the European Parliament's support for the reform process in Ukraine, Plenkovic said that this fight against corruption is “a key aspect and a precondition for reforms in other sectors”. Gerashchenko also highlighted reform of the judicial system, decentralisation and the harmonisation of new laws with European legislation, as well as the modernisation of her Parliament.
Plenkovic reiterated the European Parliament's support for the efforts of the Ukrainian government and international community at implementing the Minsk agreements. He said the conditions had not been met “to relax or ease the restrictive measures against the Russian Federation in any way”. The EU's economic sanctions are in force until 31 July 2016 and are linked to implementation of the Minsk agreements. Gerashchenko said she would like the EU also to take measures against those responsible for imprisoning Ukrainian pilot Nadiya Savchenko (see EUROPE 11508). Lithuania has already taken such measures. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)